Corpses
by Grimrephr
Summary: Leo, a survivor in the outbreak, is simply trying to survive. Collecting survivors to help him achieve that. This does not hove the group in the show. My group simply exists in the same universe. If you have somthing you want me to improve on, post a reveiw or PM me. If you want to send an OC, PM me.
1. 105 Days Since Outbreak

The stench of death swirled around each corner. The silence loomed every path. The cold wove itself through my body. The Sun stabbed at my eyes. The loneliness forwarded my goal. I am alone, and freezing. I need shelter.

I walked into the back of an Alaskan meat house in search of canned foods. There wasn't any but I did find a knife. I held onto it. After all, I had lost my gun. The meat house was not a good shelter but the store room could be boarded up for safety and the alarm could be used to attract the corpses. That was my name for them because thats what they were, walking corpses.

I stepped out the front and strode toward the dock that went over the ocean. There was a rotting body at the end, it's brain matter spread on the wood. I grabbed his gun and aimed down its sights. it had a good Iron sight, but there were no rounds. I pocketed the weapon. I didn't find a round on him either.

It was absurdly hot today but the air was fresher, away from the body, than it was yesterday. Be it from the lack of factory work or the larger amount of plant growth or both I don't care. It is quite nice.

I kept on the sidewalk to get to a local neighborhood. There was probably food and supplies there. I was close by, saw it on a waste plant I checked before.

The first sight I saw was a Girl jumping a fence. A car was crashed in the garage. A guy followed her out. I went to meet them.

"Are you guys ok?" I heard a swarm of zombies in the house coming out. "This way!"

They followed me through the factory town I was in before. I passed by the outback and threw a rock at the glass. The alarm should attract the Corpses. I took them down an alley and up to the waste plant. It is a place we can hide in.

"Thanks for helping me." The girl said, it was obviously directed to the other guy.

"What happened?" I asked

"She can't drive." The guy said, frustrated. "Almost wasted my time but I got her out before she pulled the trigger."

I saw the revolver she had beside her. "Can you shoot?"

"She can shoot her-"

"That was directed to her." I interrupted.

"Not very well." She replied

"Do you have any bullets?" I asked

"Twelve"

"Good. come with me." I showered her to the roof where I practiced throwing rocks at a target someone sprayed before the apocalypse.

I taught her to shoot after I verified she had a silencer. She was a natural. However the guy couldn't hit a moose at point blank.

"You know what" The guy said after the store alarm stopped. "You keep the girl. I'm leaving" He stormed off with his gun and machete.

We left the roof about an hour after we saw the zombies disperse. "Whats your name?" I asked "I'm leo"

"I'm Morgan" She smiled. She seemed a bit pleased the guy had left. But all the same I had good company and thats what I needed after what I lost.

"Do you think the neighborhood is clear?" Morgan asked

"If the alarm was loud enough maybe. We should check now if we want to check though before more corpses beat us there." I replied

"Thats what you call them?"

"yeah, its what they are… walking corpses. what do you call them?" I explained

"I only woke up in this… mess about an two hours ago."

"Were you in a coma or something? Its been three months since this started." I asked

"Maybe… I don't have much for memory before I woke up but I think I was kidnapped. I woke up in the attic of some house afterall" She Answered.

"well at least you remembered your name." I replied

We did decide to go to the neighborhood. There were zombies traveling up the road to the factory town. Maybe the corpses continued to travel to a sound even after it stopped. But whilst I thought that they slowed down and stopped, but did not move from there.

"Well thats nice." Morgan said. "They stay just out of town."

"So why are we here?" I asked

"Thought that we should scavenge this place."

"Yeah… I guess that the zombies would keep people out. And you did survive in an apocalypse asleep in an attic."

"What's that mean?" Morgan tilted her head, confused.

"It means that you weren't found in an attic. Which means no one checked the house you were in. Which means that they probably didn't check houses beyond it." I answered.

We walked up to the house Morgan and the other guy had come out of. The car was scratched and dented but looked like it still might work. I walked a ways down the road and a checked a house for any entrances that could prevent me from making too much sound.

The house was locked all around, I had to break a window to get in. With the tip of my knife I jabbed hard at a window opposite of the towns one entrance. It cracked quietly. Now the scarier part, the other side of this window is hard wood, so I have it hope it makes as little noise as possible. I hit a point near the top right and a small piece fell in and made a soft sound. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey, What are you doing?" Morgan said, making me jump and accidently hit the base of the window. It shattered and fell on the other side made a loud noise and stopped. I looked down the road and saw a couple corpses turn and walk this way but none followed them. I could take them out.

I hear a whimper come from inside the house, so I quietly stepped inside. The noise continued and I followed it to a closed room. Morgan followed me as I opened the door slowly and quietly. No one was there, but the sound came from a closet opposite of this room. I opened the closet quietly and saw a guy sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees and his face pressed on top, covering his eyes with his knees. He didn't notice me open the closet. I looked at morgan, who shrugged. The guy wasn't armed. So I poked him. He screamed and looked at me. He is an asian boy just hiding there. Looked to be around the same age as morgan, 18 or 19. He squinted.

"who are you? Am I dead?" He asked.

"No, you aren't dead. I'm Leo, She's Morgan."

"Wait, Morgan who?" He asked.

"Hi, Russell." Morgan said.

"Oh hey. Have either of you seen my glasses."

His knees were wet with, what I suppose is, tears. We looked around the house to try and find His glasses. Turns out he had them in his pocket.

"Have you seen Deven or the others around?" Russel asked Morgan.

"No, I woke up in an attic about thirty minutes ago."

"I hid in that closet for a few days, do you have any food." He was completely off topic.

"I don't have anything more than this expired granola bar." I pulled it out and he took it instantly and ate it fast.

There was a crunch of glass, and a moan. I pulled out my knife and went to where we entered. Three Corpses had walked in. I stabbed them all in the head. They are slow, so they aren't hard to kill. I noticed that it was getting dark.

"Hey guys lets find shelter quick so we aren't out at night." I said.

"Why? What happens at night?" Morgan asked.

"It gets dark, hard to see dead things in the dark."


	2. 106 Days Since Outbreak

**Hey Guys, Three months and 13 days of survival for Leo, how long do you think you'll survive? Special thanks to littlemissfangirl00 and bittersweet bunni for following and favoriting.**

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I woke up from the quiet sound of a far off gunshot. I am a light sleeper now-a-days and a pin drop could wake me at this point. Once I woke up from a cat landing on the floor in the building I resided in a month back. It was safer. I looked at Morgan and Russel. Morgan had the bed and Russel was asleep sitting upright in the closet. I woke them both.

"Isn't it uncomfortable to sleep like that, Russel?" I asked.

"I did it for a couple weeks in that closet at the home you found me in." He answered.

"Why did we wake up so early?" Morgan questioned.

"I heard a gunshot that was probably a ways away. Wanted to check it out."

We went outside and saw that the crowd of zombies was traveling away from the town. In the center I saw something. When we got close enough I realized it was gore, a gun, and a machete. Morgan and Russel didn't see it until I began to investigate it. It was the prick from before, the one who saved Morgan. Idiot. Morgan gagged when she saw it and ran a ways away then looked back. She was keeping her distance. Russel simply looked away then picked up his machete. I checked his gun and his clothes for ammunition. His gun had three bullets and he had a map with a X on it over a building. I found one magazine and checked if we had the same gun. We did, so I took a minute to load the full mag into my gun and take everything but his gun.

"Don't need that gun?" Russel asked.

"No" I answered

"Ok, can I have a clip?" Russel held out his hand.

I handed him the almost empty one. "It has three rounds. Use them wisely, and please don't miss."

"I get less?" Russel complained.

"You have a machete, I have a knife."

"Good point. Lets go." Russel waved to call Morgan over. She shook her head, so Russel yelled "We're going!"

We continued to were the gunshot sound came from and found a group walking away from us. I pointed behind me and made a gesture to stay low and quiet. I snuck alone up to the group and silently took out corpses from the back to the front of the group. There were twelve.

"Come on. They're dead." I beckoned to my group.

"They were dead in the first place." Russel said as he emerged.

"Don't be a smartalic, Look." I pointed to a heavily armored hardware store. "Think it's where the sound came from?"

"Maybe." Morgan said.

"Stay right where you are!" A voice sounded from above.

I raised my gun and looked. A blonde Caucasian male stood on the roof. "Drop the gun!" He shouted.

I heard a footstep behind us and turned. Another male, African American this time, was sneaking up on us.

"Hey, Orlando, you suck at stealth." Russel said.

"Do you guys all seem to know each other?" I asked sarcastically. "I mean, it's a small world, but seriously."

"We were told to meet here." Russel said. "Me, Orlando, Dylan, and Deven."

"What about me?" Morgan asked.

"No one knew where you were. You never got on Skype." Orlando said, timidly.

"So you guys knew this would happen?" I asked.

"This apocalypse, no. We just happened to be on a call together." Orlando said.

"By the way, is Deven here?" Russel asked.

"He went off to find you, got here three days ago." A guy said behind me, Whom I suppose was Dylan. "Where have you been."

"Heh, thats a… fun story." Russel rubbed the back of his neck with embarrassment.

"I found him in a closet." I said.

"Hey!"

"Deadies? Trap? Lost your glasses?" Dylan asked.

"That was only once, ok! Trap and freaks." Russel said, agitated.

"Russel lost his glasses and fell into a pitfall because 'the dry leaves blended in'" Dylan pestered.

"Shut up!" Russel said. "They did blend in."

"Who shot the gun?" I asked.

"Neither of us. I heard it from that direction." He pointed toward the sun. East. "Probably Deven."

As he said 'Deven' a flare rose into the sky. I started in its direction. The rest followed in suit. In twenty minutes we found a crap ton of corpses and followed them to a house. A Caucasian male with brown hair was sitting on the roof. Corpses were trying to get to him but they couldn't. He seemed happy though, with a box of cookies in his lap.

"Hey, give me one." Orlando yelled to him.

"Nope. Hey Morgan, Hey Russel!" He waved and smiled.

"How did you get up there?" Dylan asked.

"I climbed the tree." Deven pointed to a tree beside the house. He jumped onto a truck in the driveway and walked off and to the group. Corpses followed slowly in suit. "Let's get back to the depo. Hi, I'm Deven" He held his hand out to me.

I shook it. "Leo."

We walked back to the dopo. It took forty minutes, but we talked most of it. twenty minutes in, Deven threw a flare a ways behind us and the corpses followed it. Once we got back Russel gave Morgan and I a tour of the place. It was tough, it would last. The sun was just overhead when we were done. I was given task to check out the Xed building on the map after I showed it to Dylan.

It took an hour and when I entered a swarm of corpses turned and looked at me. I slammed those doors and locked them tight. How did zombies stay in here with an unlocked door? Oh, soundproofing around the door, that explains.

I walked a little shocked and entered the depo through the roof entrance. It was the only way in and you had to get around back to access it. I told Deven about it, since he was the first guy I saw, and he reported it to Dylan. Dylan told me to bring Orlando there when he got back tomorrow. I nodded and helped Deven with setting traps around the town.

At a spike trap we were setting I asked Deven where he learned this stuff.

"Trial and error mostly. I did find a survival book where I figured out how to make a few basic traps worth killing freaks with. Noose traps, pitfalls, collapsing walls."

"Collapsing walls?" I questioned.

"Yah, deadfalls on a larger scale. Make a heavy stick or spiked wall, hinge it on a floor, attach a string to the top of the wall and to the floor and presto. Let me show you one, it's not to far from here."

He showed me to an alleyway where I saw a spiked stick wall with rocks tied on top. At the base of the wall there was a gap, which I suppose let the small fixture on the ground fit through the wall without it stopping.

"Alright, This is where the string starts. It's not rigged, so I'll set it up." Deven laced a rope through the loop attached to the floor and knotted it, Then followed it through the loop on the fixture near the wall, and braced the wall to climb it and tie the other side of the rope and finish. "Ok, lets find us a freak."

We found and lured a corpse through the alley path to the trap. Deven and I jumped the rope and the corpse followed into it, pulling the rope and tripping. Nothing happened.

"Crap." Deven stabbed the zombie in the head and kicked the stick bracing the wall. "Dang, that almost worked."

We went and found a group of three corpses and lured them to the trap. This time one kicked the rope and the top of the wall moved in, pulling the rest of the wall with it and on to the corpses. They were stabbed in the head and crushed. The sound of bones snapping was disgusting but the wall was very cool.

"Yeah! Finally it works!" Deven jumped with his one fist in the air, a victory pose for sure. "I had to move that loop so many times." He pointed at the one by the wall. "I think thats all that we needed to set up. The sun is setting, so lets get home."


	3. 107 Days Since Outbreak

**Hey, I'm back. Got another chapter and I am semi sorry. Special thanks to Namesarestupid95 for following and favoriting. If you don't want to get a shout out for following and favoriting, PM me.**

I woke up next morning because of Orlando poking me.

"I was told about your find late yesterday. Its easier to avoid freaks earlier in the day. Bright things are brighter and attract more attention. Fires seem to be more attractive early in the day." He said.

"Are you sure corpses aren't attracted to the heat, or the smell, or, heck, even the sound?" I asked

"None of that really matters. It works, so we use it." Orlando stood up and headed to the roof access. I followed him.

Once we got outside I showed him the map. Orlando picked up some binoculars and looked out over the town. He waved me over and pointed. I picked up the binoculars and looked in the direction.

"That your place?" Orlando asked. "The one we have to get to?"

"Yep. I couldn't count the corpses inside, but I guess its around twenty to twenty-five."

"Seems like he Xed it out for a reason" Orlando seemed worried.

"It could have ammunition, food, weapons, or all of the above."

"Well lets go."

We took the ladder down and began to head in the direction. I am sure it took three hours of daylight, but Orlando went into every building and when he came out he marked it with a circle with an X crossed in it.

"I may have lied when I said waking early was for the 'luring with fire' thing. It does work, I just wanted to scout longer." Orlando admitted as he marked the twelfth house.

"Isn't a problem. I probably would have woke up around then anyway." I smiled.

When we finally got to the building he investigated the outside. "If we put a fire trap here we can kill them easier." He said, pointing out where to put it.

"Fire trap?"

"A short spiked wall with barrels that hold flammable items. Freaks go to it and get caught on the wall, then they can be killed easily. Supposing they all get caught on the wall, which is unlikely due to the amount you stated." Orlando filled me in.

"I think I have a better idea. Look, there are chain link fences around the back. They look tough enough to hold up to a few corpses."

"Yeah, but how do we get in if the gate isn't unlocked. Barbed wire on the top prevents climbing, and the gate, if there is one, would be unlocked and thus weaker to freaks. If we cut a hole in the fence then… well there's a hole in the fence." Orlando said. He started looking for barrels while I looked around back. The gate was locked and the fence was durable, but I considered what Orlando said. Then I saw that a hole was in the corner by the west and south walls. It wasn't a hole as much as it was a flap of chain link. I called to Orlando.

"We can still set off the trap in front, I completed it just before you called me." Orlando spoke "We can lure them out the front and go in the back door."

"What if a few stay in?" I asked.

"We call them out front. Use a shout or hit one of the barrels with a rock or our foot." Orlando turned.

"You take out the ones in front I'll take flank."

"Okay." Orlando put up his thumb and jogged around front.

I heard the sound of metal being struck and moved in to the back and through the door. A couple of corpses heard me and turned so I pulled out my knife. The place was stocked full of valuable loot. I stabbed a couple and followed one out front. It's head went flying and Orlando went around the corner. He had the katana he used resting on his shoulder. Corpses were stuck limp on the short wall in front of me. The barrels had fire roasting within.

"This place is stocked." Orlando said looking behind me.

"To good to be true, most likely." I said. "Seems like a lot of food but it also seems like it's been here a while."

"Bread looks good though, at least this bag does." Orlando said holding up a bag of bread.

"Grab all the canned goods before you get stuff that has a short lifetime." I looked around for cans, I found a few, but stopped when I came across an ammunition box, Then another. I found three boxes and twenty cans before my bag filled up. It was heavy.

"We need to tidy this place up so it looks like the corpses are still here, or hide the loot and make it look ransacked." I proposed.

"Yeah, Im stocked. Lets drop this stuff off and come back." Orlando said, Only then did I realize he had three bags on him. "Didn't have much space left after I checked the other houses."

We walked back silently for an hour. Orlando wasn't one to talk if he didn't need to. At least that's what I gathered. He didn't check a building and, for the most part, didn't kill a zombie, leaving me the work.

When we got back to the depo Orlando turned and left.

"I'm gonna continue scouting."

"The bags?" I held out my hand. He dropped them on the ground. "Hey! There's valuable stuff in there!"

"I don't care." He said.

"What the heck." I looked at him walking away. He was bloody from the corpses, so I couldn't tell until now. He was hiding his emotions. A cut was visible on his arm, and the virus was blood-borne. "I'm sorry." I said.

"For what."

"Any fool would know the virus was blood-borne, and you cut your arm, didn't you."

He walked away, silently. Dylan shouted from the roof.

"Hey! Orlando! Where are you going!" Orlando just ignored him and continued. I climbed up to meet Dylan. "What happened?"

"He's gonna turn, a cut on his arm and corpse blood in it. He didn't tell me. I found out at the front." I answered Dylan's question.

I told the rest the story when I got downstairs. Morgan mourned for him, and Deven and Russel nodded sadly. Russel left a bit later to look for him. He came back with Orlando's sword and gave me his machete.

The rest of the day was quiet, except for Dylan assigning me a scout job for tomorrow. That night I didn't sleep for a bit. I wondered how long this group would survive. I also questioned how long I should stay here.


	4. 412 Days Since Outbreak

**Hey guys, Grim here. Another chapter! Yay! But time has passed, so what will happen?**

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It had been nearly a year since this group let me join. Things were ok, we were running low on town resources but Morgan and Deven set-up a farm, since they were the only ones who remained in the building and had the time to do other things. Everyone sort of followed Dylan, since he was the guard, but there wasn't a determined leader. People never showed up aside from this group. It was just us.

"Are you gonna go scouting soon?" Deven asked.

"We've searched everything, except the red zone." I said. The red zone was a place where we set off an alarm that didn't stop. Corpses swarm that place now and it was far too dangerous. Only yesterday did the alarm stop.

"Well, That alarm stopped, maybe you could check the place out. I have a few traps set up there, if they are needed." Deven handed me the trap map. We took that old map with the Xed out building and marked where our traps were.

"I'll check the place. Make sure you keep the defenses up on the north wall, they're falling apart again. You can open the door there." I left Deven and went to the roof. Dylan was keeping watch and Russel was sitting in a chair looking at his katana. He was still upset about Orlando. None of us talked about him anymore, they were all a bit hurt from their loss. Russel was hurt the most though. He stated that he killed his corpse, but we all knew that he couldn't turn that fast.

"Russel, come with me. We're going to red."

"Ok." Russel stood and we grabbed our bags. I took two every time now. We hadn't used those ammunition boxes since I found them, but I knew we'd need it on this run, so I grabbed one. We reloaded and headed out.

When we got to the red zone we climbed up to a roof using the pipes on the side of the building. We could hear the moans of the withered windpipes of the corpses. It was creepy, like a ghost horror movie. I pulled out a flare and looked around for the mansion that the alarm resided in.

"What if we pull the freaks to another place, the same way this alarm did." Russel said.

"I don't know if there is a place for us to do that." I started thinking about what to do, then I saw the mansion. The corpses still hadn't got in. "Come with me, we might be able to get the alarm or at least the generator."

"Solar powered, look." Russel pointed at the roof.

"There might be something we can use inside."

"What about our guns, we aren't short on ammunition. You brought a box, right?" Russel suggested.

"Yeah, I did." I turned and walked to where we climbed up. "We can put them here, there is traps set up everywhere there." I pointed at the map.

"That's the coffee shop, Morgan, Deven, and Dylan go there for coffee every morning." Russel said.

"There isn't any power though." I scratched my head.

"Deven starts a fire in a camping stove he found in a supermarket."

"Oh. Well lets just gather as much coffee products as we can and bring them to the depo, than we swarm that area. When we're done we can decide whether or not to live in the mansion or stay in the depo." I said.

"Live in the mansion?"

"It kept the corpses out. It should do."

"I guess its a nice place."

As we were walking to the coffee shop we saw a truck pass by. Instantly we followed it but could not keep up.

"It's going to the depo!" I shouted.

We ran for a few minutes and got lost. I looked into the sky and saw smoke. I ran towards it. It took us an hour of losing our way and finding it again till we got there. Me and Russel saw the depo, a burning building. Dylans body lay on the rubble, a bullet wound in the head was visible even from where I stood. We shouted for the others but got no response. Who the heck came here and killed the group, and why? I waded into a place where the rubble wasn't aflame. Russel came behind me before I got in.

"What are you doing." His voice was shaky. He held his sword to my chest.

I pulled up my gun. "I'm grabbing whatever I can and looking for survivors of this. If we find no one we still need to get what we can."

"Yeah. Hurry." We waded and found nothing but a few burnt corpses. Four bodies were there. Four? Who was the fourth? I searched all the husks while Russel wasn't looking. I found Deven's hammer, Morgan's pendant she wore on her neck. I also found a ID of someone else, Janice. She had to be with the people who raided here.

"Their dead." Russel said, shaken.

There was something wrong about this, the bodies seemed completely out of proportion to their supposed owners. "They're not dead."

"Yes they are! We can't hide from-"

"Look at Morgans 'body'. Its that of a muscular woman, Morgan wasn't that fit. Deven's 'body' is that of a woman's." Russel looked closer and saw what I saw. "They aren't dead, they've been kidnapped."

"Why?"

"How would I know. It could have been bandits."

"We need to find them." Russel left and I followed him. We got out just as the roof fell.

"Where are we gonna start looking?"

"There's only one exit from the city, since it's surrounded by either mountains or water."

"Well lets hurry." I said as Russel started in a direction. "We might be able to track them, cars leaving paths in leaves or grass."

"Only if we're lucky." Russel had a different spirit about him. I could tell he didn't want to lose another friend. I couldn't blame him, the group is valuable.

We traveled on the one street that left town for maybe two hours. We came across a couple forks but both had corpses that were obviously hit by a car recently on only one side. They were leaving a bread-trail. But the sun was setting, and Russel and I we're tiring. We would have to sleep soon. Russel collapsed an hour after the sun set. He was too hard on himself, but he didn't pass out, this was out of depression. I offered my hand and took him into the forest. We took up shifts then, so were weren't attacked. It was a near sleepless night.


	5. 413 Days Since Outbreak

**Hey, sorry i haven't been posting throughout the summer. I spent my time playing video games at home. But I'm back now, and with a longer chapter, so have fun reading!**

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Russel woke me up and pointed at the sunrise. Guess shifting was over. I got up and walked with Russel down the road we were traveling on before. There were still corpses, but they were fewer and farther than they were yesterday. It worried me, for the bodies could stop and we wouldn't be able to find the group. Russel wouldn't handle that, losing everyone except the one who prevented him being with his group. I would have to plan for that, just in case.

"There is a fork in the road ahead. No bodies either." Russel said, bringing me back to the world. I should have slept more, I'm zoning out.

"Look around, we might find clues to where they took your friends."

"Your?"

"Our, sorry, misspoke. I'm tired."

"Ok then. Hey look, over there." Russel pointed in the distance.

There was a line of smoke traveling into the sky. "Well, lets go." I said and began down the right side of the fork.

"What if the road turns off? doesn't go to where that is."

"Then we go through the forest" I started walking and, in a couple seconds, Russel followed up behind me. He probably thought that a forest run was a bad idea.

We continued down the road until it eventually turned off. The road could turn back around, but I didn't want to waste time. "Let's go through the forest."

"Ok, but how will we keep a direction?" Russel said, looking up at the smoke.

"Mark trees and go around them, like a slalom." I answered

"Gotcha."

We walked up through the forest, marking trees as we walked. My trick worked well, but it wasn't mine. I think I remembered it from a show before the dead rose. Pretty soon we were met by a cliff. I could see road lights peeking over the edge. "Can you climb?"

"Yeah" Russel answered. "Can't we just follow the cliff till it comes to our level. After all, there is a road up there."

"I want to get there as fast as possible."

"Climbing is slow, we can run that way. Look the road is closer to the ground over there." Russel started in the direction.

"Fine." I followed after him.

Eventually the road met us and we followed it until I saw a fence. I tapped Russel and gestured for him to follow me.

"What?" Russel said quietly.

"They could be dangerous. I'm not walking in blindly. If you see one of our group, do not call out to them. It could get us killed if this place is dangerous."

"Ok" Russel said, he seemed irritated about it but understood anyway.

I snuck around through the forest, Russel right behind me. We got up on a hill with a perfect overlook on the camp. It was a lumbering camp that was sloppily converted to a living space by survivors. I noticed a man leading a few people to a farm. I couldn't tell if they were the the group but it was definitely two guys being leaded.

"We need to get close to that farm."

Five minutes later we were right at the fence. It was Deven and some other dude. Deven noticed me and got close. He was smart, he acted like he was working near the fence. I told Russel not to talk.

"There is a hole in the fence near the tower. The hunters use it to get out into the forest. The armory is next to it, you can find a master switch in the building attached to it. cut the power and get inside the armory. Once your done there find Morgan, we don't know where she is but the only other building she could be in is the building adjacent." Deven spoke in a rushed tone.

"Adjacent?" I asked quietly.

"The armory, now get." He commanded.

I rushed to the two largest buildings whilst remaining hidden in the shrubbery, Russel behind me.

Soon we were at the hole I was told about. It was small but enough to get through. Why would they keep a hole here for hunters, unless they were expecting a raid from front? That question didn't matter. Soon we were in the hangar next to what I guessed was the 'adjacent building' Deven talked about. When we found a quiet and hidden way in I told Russel to draw his sword. We walked into the building and saw no weapons but it was creepy. There were women cept in glass cages that resembled cat pens you'd find in a petstore. There was a couple men cutting something up in a distant corner. We tried to keep quiet and in the darkness. A couple trapped girls saw us but we gestured that they keep quiet. I didn't see Morgan anywhere, but the amount of cages was obscene and she could be anywhere. Pretty soon we were a short distance behind the men who were cutting something up. From where we were I peeked and regretted it immediately. A woman, no flesh left on her body, was on the table. I pointed at the man on the right and gestured a stab motion, then put my finger to my lips. He got the message and got behind him. I swung down with no mercy, but Russel for half a second before he stabbed. When the bodies of the men we killed hit the floor Russel saw what was on the table. He retched.

"Who are these people?" He asked quietly after he finished puking.

"Don't know, we have to hide the bodies though." I looked around and saw a open crate. I dragged a guy to it and didn't even look inside when I threw him in. Russel did the same.

"You look for Morgan on that side." I said pointing to the left.

"Got it."

"And if you find her do not shout."

"Then what do I do?" Russel asked.

"Find me."

I took off down the right section of pens. it looked like it was set up as a 20 by 50. This was no happy place, we needed to find Morgan.

The women all watched me as I snuck around looking. Some of them pleaded to set them free, some asked to be killed before they were eaten, some just remained silent.

"Leo." I heard to my left. It was Morgan. She looked relieved. "Here to get me out?"

"Yeah, one sec, I have to find Russel."

I looked around a bit till I found him and gestured for him to come to me. Soon we were in front of Morgan's 'pen'.

"How are we gonna get this open?" Russel asked.

The pen was locked with a padlock. It was not a code one either, and those bodies we dumped probably had the key.

"We need to check those bodies." I replied.

"What about what could be inside, I mean aside from the bodies." Russel asked.

"Then I'll do it." I answered.

"Ok." He nodded.

"Don't get yourself killed." Morgan said.

"I won't."

I went to the crate where we hid those bodies. I climbed in and found that, aside from the bodies, it was empty. I searched one body and found nothing, but before I could check the other I heard voices. I drew my machete.

"Where are the butchers now? Why can't they just do their freaking jobs."

"I'll look. Knowing them they snuck out to get some booze."

"And I'm just supposed to stay here?"

"What if they come back?"

"Good point."

I heard one of them walk away and decided to peak. I saw one dude walking towards me. He was looking down and cursing. I hid again.

"Wonder if I can get some booze, that would be nice. Get a nice drink with Sandra." He leaned against the box, facing his back to me. "then maybe I can-"

I put my blade to his throat. "No words."

"What do you want?"

I thought for a second, why didn't I just kill him. "How do I get into the armory?" I spoke calmly.

"Why would I tell you that?"

I pushed the blade on his neck.

"Ok, Ok. The lock is Electrical, shut down the power and you can get in."

"Where can I shut down the power."

"I'm not gonna-"

I pressed until it cut, but not deep enough to kill.

"OK! There's a master switch next to the armory, it's hidden behind the boxes. Just don't kill me."

I moved my machete away from his neck.

"Thank you."

Then stabbed him through his skull.

I pulled him into the box and found the key on the other butcher. then returned to Russel and Morgan.

"Did you get the key?" Morgan asked.

"I got a key, one second." I put the key in the padlock and unlocked it, Then went to another pen.

"I'm gonna let you out, Go unlock the other ones and get as many people as you can out."

"Ok, I'll try." The girl said.

I unlocked the strangers pen and gave her the key. She went off and did as I asked.

Morgan was already out of her 'pen'. She seemed to be planning something with Russel.

"We can get into the armory." I said.

"How?" Morgan asked.

"By cutting the power." I answered

"And you learned this from?"

"The new body in that box." I pointed at where the bodies were hidden.

"Someone else came?" Russel stood up.

"Yeah, we need to get outside. Follow me."

I went to that hole in the fence and followed, on the outside, along the fence to where Deven was. He was not there now though. I turned and headed a bit into the forest.

"What are we doing?" Morgan asked quietly.

"Looking for Deven." I answered, looking into the camp.

"See him anywhere?" Russel asked.

"No, but there is a sleeping quarters over there."

"How do you know it's a sleeping quarters?"

"This seems to be an old military camp mock up, with a storage hanger; 'armory', which is probably a legit one now; and sleeping quarters. I visited this place when I was younger, or at least a place like it."

"Never heard of one, sounds cool though. But why in all this forestry?" Russel said.

"It was probably abandoned and this shrubbery grew in."

"But it's not overgrown on the inside." Morgan pointed out.

"No clue, could have been cleared out when the dead first rose."

"Could you say that a bit more dramatically." Russel pestered.

We snuck around the camp and found our way to the quarters. There were about two yards of space between the fence and the quarters, and the fence had barbed wire at the top.

"How do we get in, without detection." I spoke to the wind.

"You expect us to know?" Russel said.

"That was rhetorical."

A gunshot sounded, and a girl screamed. That would work as a distraction, so that girl did unlock the pens for the others. Why try to leave through the front though?

"What was that?" Russel shouted.

"Shut up." I said in a hushed tone.

"Ok." He crouched a little lower.

The sun was beginning to set now. I couldn't see Deven but only had now to get him out. The commotion started by those girls would get us out. But I wanted into the armory.

"Let's hit that armory."

Soon we were sneaking inside the "pen house". I looked for the boxes I was told about and moved them. There was a switch hidden there, so I flicked the master and the place shut down.

"We don't have long before they get through the girls, so grab what you need and get out." I said as I opened the heavy armory door.

We left with a few pistols, a rifle, and a box pistol and rifle ammo. We went to the hole and I looked back. Russel wasn't with us. It was just Morgan and I.

"Where's Russel?" I asked.

"Huh? He's gone?" Morgan looked around franticly.

"We need to go."

"We can't leave them here! We have to wait!" Morgan was shaking.

"Five minutes, if they don't come were leaving."

"Ok."

So we waited, and waited. They didn't come.

"Let's go."

"No." Morgan stood still.

"We have to go."

"No."

"We'll die if we stay here."

Morgan remained silent for a minute, then turned to me. She had tears running down her cheeks, her hands were shaking and she was fiddling with something in her hands. It looked like a spring loaded knife.

"Ok." Morgan looked down. "We'll go."


	6. 452 Days Since Outbreak

**Hey guys, sorry its been a while. I've been caught up on RPG stuff i'm DMing now, but here's a chapter. Have fun reading.**

* * *

It has been four and a half weeks since the kidnapping. We still hadn't found the rest of the group. We went back to the town and took shelter in a small shop on the edge of town. It was early morning, Morgan still hadn't woken up. I was looking out the window. Something caught my eye and I looked to my left. Something ran down an alleyway, but I wasn't sure what it was. I decided I'd check it out and wrote Morgan a note so she didn't think I'd left her.

I went outside and headed to the alley the thing I saw ran down. It couldn't be a corpse because it was too fast, but it could be something like a deer, after all, the town had been abandoned for a long time. If it was an animal, it would be a good idea to hunt it down. I drew my machete and turned into the alleyway. It was a dead end, but nothing was there. I didn't see it leave, so it wasn't an animal. The only thing that could disappear down an alleyway like that is a person. The wall to the building opposite could be climbed easily by getting on a large dumpster and pulling yourself up on the flat roof the dumpster rested next to, so I put away my machete and climbed up.

Once on the roof I looked around. There seemed to be no-one up here. I turned a corner and was met by something hitting me in the forehead. I stumbled back a bit and looked to see what hit me. A figure in a hoodie was turning the corner, brandishing a knife. He did not turn to me so I could not see his face.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Where are the rest of them?" He ignored me and still did not turn to me. His statement made me think he was from the camp Morgan and I were at weeks ago, so I redrew my machete.

"Woah, It's me, Orlando." He still did not turn, and I didn't believe him.

"Prove it, show me your face." I commanded.

He lowered his hood. It was him, he was somehow still alive.

"How are you still alive, it's been a year and some time and you never came back. And what of Russel finishing you off, and returning with your sword."

"He found that? I just threw it away and went somewhere expecting to turn. It didn't happen and instead I got an infection. Someone took me in and patched me up, I'm lucky I didn't lose my arm. Then I stayed with him for the year to help him set up his houses defences. One day his house alarm went off and attracted the horde so we left and tried to find you guys, then we found the place burnt to a crisp."

"You were in that house?" I said thinking about the house we scavenged before the fire.

"Yeah, we couldn't figure out how it got so loud."

"It was the group. Sometime after you left we set up an alarm in that side of town to pull the corpses away from the depo."

"Well… It doesn't matter anymore, the owner of that house is dead."

"Unfortunate."

"So where is the group."

"Everyone except Russel and I were abducted a month ago. Russel and I found them at the camp and we tried to escape. Most of the group disappeared and I don't know if they got out. I only escaped with Morgan."

"Where is she then." Orlando said with a depressing face.

"She's in a shop we're holed up in."

"Can you bring me to her?" He asked.

"Yeah." I sheathed my machete and headed back to the alleyway then took the short walk to the shop.

I opened the door and walked in. Morgan was still asleep, so I gestured to Orlando to keep quiet. He gave me a thumbs up and I quietly showed him around the shop. It was a standard shop, a counter with a couple cashier boxes, a few shelves, and a rotating card stand. The windows were boarded and blocked by previous inhabitants, but I installed a door block.

We were in the storeroom when I heard Morgan get up and stretch. "Morning, we have a visitor."

"Is it the group?" Morgan asked from the other room.

"No, it's an old friend."

"Who?" She said as she turned the corner. "Orlando?!" She rushed and hugged him for a second. "How are you alive?"

Orlando went through his story again with Morgan and I went through some of the boxes in the back of the store. Morgan and I were surprised to find such a haul in a place this long after the start of the apocalypse. Morgan and I had searched some of the boxes but we stopped when we found a few weeks of food. I might only find more food, but we have another mouth to feed, so it wasn't a bad idea to check the rest of the store's stock. Once I started searching the boxes both Morgan and Orlando asked if I wanted help. I accepted and we got to work. The first box I opened was filled with granola bars, maybe around a hundred of them. Immediately after opening that box a moan sounded outside.

"I'll get that." I said. "You guys keep checking the supplies, I'll call if I need help"

I went out the front and stabbed the corpse through the skull with my machete. It was mostly quiet today but something was off. There was a sound, barely noticeable, in the distance. A low tone rumble. I couldn't tell if it was a car or an earthquake tremor or even a hoard of corpses, but it was coming into the town. I went to the roof where I found Orlando just a bit ago and looked to the town entrance. I could only see a bit of the road from the roof, but I could see movement. I couldn't tell what it was, as it was too far away to tell, but I didn't want to just shrug off something that could be a hoard. I rushed back to the shop.

"Guys! Get anything you can to barricade anything that looks unsafe, I think a hoard's coming." I shouted as I closed the front door, putting down the door block. "And cover the front window!"

"Why cover the window?" Orlando asked next to me.

"So the corpses can't see us, if we keep quiet they might just walk by."

"Alright, I'll get on it."

Orlando rushed to the back room for something and Morgan came to me.

"Are you sure it's a hoard?" She asked.

"No, but I did see movement at the town entrance. I don't want to pass it off as a random herd or something incase it is a hoard." I answered.

"Herd?"

"Animal herd, corpse hoard"

"Ok, that works I guess."

"Everything seems good here. I checked the back and there wasn't any windows, but there's a door, just in case you didn't know."

I didn't know, but I wasn't sure weather to block it and have no escape, or leave it and hope nothing comes through the back. "Leave it in case we have to leave. I still don't know what's out there, but I hope it doesn't find the back door."

"Alright. Now what do we do?" Orlando asked.

"We wait." I replied.

I moved the sheet covering the boarded window to look out. The boards aren't enough alone to hide us in here. They were obviously set too keep people out, but not obstruct view. The sheets we set were so that corpses didn't see us, but if a person saw the sheets it would be obvious that someone was in here.

"See anything?" Morgan whispered to me.

"Not yet, but I'll keep looking." I replied.

"Stay prepared, you never know what could come through." Orlando said.

Soon a truck came into view. In front there was a person wearing military slacks, along with a couple other people. I couldn't tell who the non military-clothed people were, but from here they looked familiar.

"I see a truck, and 3 people walking in front. Two are familiar, but I can't tell who they are yet." I stated

"Could it be the others?" Orlando asked

"If so, then one of them is gone." I replied.

"Could the third be one?" Morgan asked.

"No, it's a she, and she's too short." I answered, and it was followed by a call over a horn from outside.

"To all people living in this area! Everything you own now belongs to us, including this town. We will shoot anyone who objects." It seemed to be the girl up front who was shouting through a handheld loudspeaker.

"It's them isn't it." Morgan said.

"Them?" Orlando asked.

"Probably, grab your guns, they aren't being followed by corpses so we might be able to take them. Or maybe we can just get our friends, if the others are our friends, and leave." I said, ignoring Orlando.

"Who are they?" Orlando asked again.

"They're bad people, that's all I know, I didn't really get to know them." Morgan answered.

"Oh." Orlando replied.

The loudspeaker sounded again. "Also, if anyone nearby knows where a Leo or Morgan is, tell us. We need them ASAP."

"That's not a good sign." Orlando stated bluntly.

"Tell them we have their friends. Well, two of them. We ate the other. He… well, he resisted." The Loudspeaker said again, they were close enough now that I could recognise the faces of Deven and Dylan. Russel was gone.

"They what!" Orlando shouted. I immediately cupped his mouth with my hand to shut him up.

"You can't shout like that, they'll hear." I whispered.

"Which one?" Orlando said through gritted teeth.

"Russel." I said, and quickly Orlando got up.

"We go around back, take them out one by one. Not one will be left alive." Orlando spoke angrily.

"Then get prepared."

"I'll stay here." Morgan said.

Soon the truck was right in front of our door. They went past and we saw that two were guarding the back. They were looking at the buildings, and luckily they didn't see us. Orlando and I snuck out when they looked down the road in the direction the truck was going in. We trailed them from the shadows for a minute. Once one started to turn we stabbed them both in the back and quietly put them down. Then the guy in the truck shouted.

"BEHIND US!" I rushed to him only to have a sharp pain strike the back of my head. Then I blacked out.


End file.
